With unemployment rising and the economy tanking, more Americans are in need of assistance.

Budget cuts may make some of that help harder to find, but surprisingly some that's available is, in fact, underused.

At a taping Tuesday of our public affairs program It's Not Just Politics, Food Bank CEO Cherie Jamason says barely half of Nevadans who are eligible for federally funded food stamps are getting them.

"We're leaving about $150 million dollars on the table in resources that you and I already paid for in our income taxes."

Jamason says many don't know about the program, or assume they're ineligible. Those that learn otherwise face an application process that's difficult to navigate, So her organization is stepping to help aiding potential recipients with the application process.

Stephen Wegner is a fairly typical example. A few months ago, he was a self-employed building contractor. Now recovering from a stroke, for the first time in his life he finds himself without resources and needing help.

Unaware he was eligible, he found his way to Food Bank worker Nikki Firpo in a roundabout way, hearing about food stamps at the V-A. Tuesday he was meeting her at the Community Resource Center on Record Street. Together they are going over his application. Learning half the people eligible never get this far comes as no surprise.

" It would be nice to have it streamlined and more user friendly. It's kinda likeyou pay into something and then you're the villain in it."

"The application alone is overwhelming," says Firpo. "You have to fill out an application that is somewhat confusing. There are different applications and they all acceptable. Then you have to get an appointment. You have to be seen and provide all the verifications and the worker has to find the time to process it. So, it's a long process."

But it's a process Firpo is helping shorten for Wegner who will likely now receive the additional assistance much quicker.

Food stamps will put nutritious food on his table, which will aid in his recovery and will allow him to apply his remaining resources to rebuilding other aspects of his life. That's the way this assistance is supposed to work, but apparently often does not.

Food Bank workers offer the same assistance at a number of locations around northern Nevada. To find out more you can call them at 331-FOOD or access their website www.fbnn.org.

The entire interview with Food Bank CEO Cherie Jamason will air this Sunday morning at 11.